Prototype Salvador Dali 'Salivasofa' from 1974 with Certificate of Authenticity

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Prototype Salvador Dali 'Salivasofa' from 1974 with Certificate of Authenticity

About the Item

Amazing and super rare Salvador Dali lips 'Salivasofa' prototype dating from 1974. Five or six such prototypes were slowly developed in stages during the period 1972-4 by Dali in collaboration with Oscar Tusquets who provided the technical expertise on how to bring Dali's surreal design to fruition. We transported this amazing work to Barcelona in September 2019 so it could be examined and authenticated in person by the famous architect and designer Oscar Tusquets. Tusquets is the only person in the world who has the authority and detailed knowledge to be able to authenticate these 'Salivasofa' prototypes as he was directly involved with the fabrication process . This sofa comes with a multi page, hand signed ,certificate of authenticity from Oscar Tusquets including photos of Tusquets personally examining the sofa and some additional archival photos of Dali and him working together during the prototyping process during 1972-4. Each and every page of the certificate is hand signed and dated by Oscar Tusquets. There is an accompanying matching label that can be applied to the underside of the sofa. During the same trip we also took the sofa to the Dali museum in Figueres for direct comparison where we took some photos of the sofa outside the museum and photos of the prototype finished in red polidur which is exhibited in the 'Mae West room inside the Dali museum. Please see images 13 to 17. This example was injection moulded at the same time and in the same mould as the example which has resided in the 'Mae West room' in the Dali museum in Figueres,Spain since 1975, the only difference between the two sofas is that the example exhibited in the museum was finished in a red 'polidur' finish , this is all confirmed by Oscar Tusquets. This prototype was left in its raw polyurethane foam finish which has now darkened to an organic tobacco color through the passage of time and exposure to ultra violet light since 1974. The first few prototypes were more basic in form and lacked the fine detailing such as the subtle wrinkles in the lips etc. Please see last few photos in the images which show a few of these early prototypes where you can see the detailing was a lot more basic. Image 2 shows Dali sat on the prototype destined for his museum in Figueres and image 3 shows a color photo of Dali with a young Oscar Tusquets with the final protoype sofa now finished in red polidur. For a more detailed background history on this amazing piece please refer to the text quoted taken directly from the certificate of authenticity- "I , Oscar Tusquets Blanca, confirm that I have personally examined Salvador Dali’s ‘Salivasofa’ (finished in raw polyurethane foam) in the example above. After looking carefully at the piece, I am happy to confirm that it is a genuine and authentic piece from the original batch of five or six prototypes that were designed and developed by Salvador Dali and myself during the period 1972-1974. The initial idea with these prototypes was to produce a small limited edition of approximate 300 pieces for interested clients and collectors. However, due to the technical difficulties in the design and fabrication process, such as how to produce the fine details like the lip creases and taking in consideration the not yet developed new technologies to create a piece of this detail and complexity, together with the possible future maintenance issues and durability ,due to the fragile nature of the materials used, it soon became obvious that this design was not suitable for serial commercial production. So, after all the project was shelved and discontinued. The five or six original prototypes that had been fabricated during this research process, of which this is one, were never offered for sale. Except for the red ‘Polidur’surface finish ,this raw polyurethane foam prototype, illustrated in detail throughout the pages 1-7 of this certificate, is identical to the example which has been exhibited in the ‘Mae West Hall’ of the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Figueres, Spain from 1975 onwards and I can further confirm that both examples were injection moulded at the same time in 1974" Condition: In our opinion this sofa is now too precious and delicate to be used as an everyday sofa and should be thought of today more as a sculptural artwork of museum quality , the now nearly 50 year old polyurethane foam has some surface blemishes which are to be expected since the material was fairly fragile to begin with and with the passage of time the foam has both darkened and the surface become more dry through exposure to ultra violet light. Please refer to detail photos of the sofa. An amazing and unique opportunity to acquire a genuine Dali work. Please note this is a Dali design produced during his lifetime and with his direct involvement not a later "after Dali" design produced after his death.

Creator:
Salvador Dalí (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 31.5 in (80 cm)Width: 68.9 in (175 cm)Depth: 43.31 in (110 cm)Seat Height: 14.97 in (38 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Foam,Molded
Place of Origin:
Spain
Period:
1970-1979
Date of Manufacture:
1974
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. In our opinion this sofa is now too precious and delicate to be used as an everyday sofa and should be thought of today more as a sculptural artwork of museum quality , the now nearly 50 year old polyurethane foam has some surface blemishes.
Seller Location:
bergen op zoom, NL
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU930123872392